Day of the Dead
I went out to some Day of the Dead festivities in my neighborhood a couple nights ago. I was struck very strongly at how there were no Hispanics at the event.
I’m in the heart of the Mission District during one of the largest Hispanic events of the year and… no Hispanics. It was all with the drumming and artist types and costume photo ops. It felt very disingenuous.
Maybe the Latinos were having a secret celebration elsewhere. Or perhaps, since Halloween is so passe, white San Francisco celebrates Dia de Los Muertos instead. Most likely, though, it’s just not a big holiday for Latinos from Mexico.
I think Americans pick which holidays they want to culture vulture using a complex equation that includes: how sexy the holiday is (Costumes & nudity, good, fasting & praying, bad), how much alcohol can be consumed in celebration and the holiday’s proximity to traditional American holiday. Cinco de Mayo is a great example. It’s not much celebrated in Mexico, but it’s the U.S.’s celebration of all things Mexican; evidently big hats, big boobs and “la cerveza mas fina”. Also, it’s in May when there aren’t any other good drinking holidays.
So, if you are really wanting to get down con la gente, I would suggest celebrating Mexican Independence Day on September 16th. It’s rockin!
Holly, I believe that you are dead on with the complex equation thing. The “costumes and nudity” part is especially a factor in this artists neighborhood. Also with the secret celebration thing. I heard that there was a parade / procession through the neighborhood. That might have been more of a native event.